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YUMA 




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The 

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Published by 
The Yuma County Chamber of Commerce 
Yuma, Arizona 
906 



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YUMA 



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The Gate City of the Great Southwe^ 








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Published by the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce 

Yuma, Arizona 

1906 



Yuma County Chamber of Commerce 



OFFICERS. 



John W. Dorrington President 

F. R. Pugh .... Fir^ Vice-President 
Isaac Polhamus . . Second Vice-President 

E. F. Sanguinetti Treasurer 

O. F. Townsend Secretary 

Geo. H. Rockwood . . AssiSant Secretary 



DIRECTORS. 



John Gandolfo A. Mode^ 

John Stoffela L. W. Alexander 

H. V. Clymer Harry BrownSetter 

Jerry Millay W. A. Bowles 

J. M. Molina A. F. White 

H. C. Haupt Frank Hodges 

T. W. Underhill J. E. Ludy 






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As a result of the campaign of publicity, inaugurated some months ago by 
the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce, fir^ by sending Mr. W. E. Lynch 
with an exhibit to the Texas State Fair at Dallas, Texas, and later by send- 
ing Mr. O. F. Townsend with a similar exhibit to the Territorial Fair at 
Phoenix; next by publishing extended articles in the Los Angeles papers and 
other publications, the intere^ed attention of inquiring hundreds has been at- 
traded to the fair and fertile fields of Yuma County, and our promoters of 
publicity have been deluged with reque^s for literature furnishing the informa- 
tion desired. This pamphlet, therefore, has been compiled, from all available 
sources of information, to meet the exigency created by the flood of que^ons 
to be answered. Nothing unique or original or voluminous has been attempt- 
ed. We have aimed to furnish a compendium of "fads and figures" that may 
be endorsed by the moS conservative without reservation and accepted by the 
moS skeptical without hesitation as entirely authentic and accurate. 

The truth about Yuma County is good enough. There is no need of em- 
bellishment or exaggeration; although, in a country where, truly, it may be 
said, that 

" Every prospedl pleases 

And only man is vile," 

while what is written may be "nothing but the truth," it is impossible, in the 
limits of these pages, to write "the whole truth." 

Anyway, dear intere^ed reader, come and see for yourself, and, without 
doubt, when you have seen, you will be ready to exclaim, as did one of old, 
"The half was never told me." 

THE YUMA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 



Members of Yuma County Chamber of Commerce. 



George A. Duke, Solicitor and Colledlor. 



Alexander, L. W. 
Ap John, Dr. Henri. 
Bailey, D. L. 
Balsz, J. M. 
Bell, T. B. 
Benjamin, V. C. 
Blaisdell, F. G. 
Blaisdell, H. W. 
Bowles, W. A. 
Bridge, G. M. 
Brownstetter, Harry. 
Byrnes, A. C. 
Clark, J. L. 
Clymer, Dr. H. V. 
Cook, Fred. 
De Corse, Sam. 
De Vore, D. M. 
Donaldson, C. E. 
Donkersley, H. H. 
Dorrington, J. W. 
Dorrington, George E. 
Duke, George A. 
Dunlap, Burt. 
Dunne, John. 
Durme, W. J. 
Durward, A. 
Dyer, C. C 



Esselburn, L. 
Foster, A. M. 
Gandolfo, John. 
Gandolfo, John, Jr. 
Gilroy, Charles. 
Godfrey, Isaac P. 
Hall, D. W. 
Haupt, H. C. 
Henry, Joe. 
Hodges, P. B. 
Hodges, Frank. 
Hodges, Ed D. 
Huffman, John L. 
Ingraham, F. L. 
Ingram, E. A. 
Johnson, O. C. 
Jordan, T. A. 
Kelso, Frank. 
Lee, Frank. 
Lindsey, W. 
Ludy, J. E. 
Lyon, W. H. 
McPherson, R. A. 
Meeden, C. V. 
Michelsen, George. 
Millay, Jerry. 



Modesti, A. 
Moffat, J. P. 
Molina, J. M. 
Molloy, Thomas D. 
Monson, P. 
Moretti, Paul. 
Polhamus, Isaac. 
Polhamus, J. M. 
Post, M. E. 
Pugh, F. R. 
Rockwood, George H. 
Sanguinetti, E. F. 
Shorey, W. H. 
Smith, Cash. 
Stahl, L. C. 
Stoffela, John. 
Stratton, Thomas. 
Townsend, O. F. 
Townsend, Albert W. 
Trautman, E. 
Underbill, T. W. 
Utting, C. H. 
Wessel, Fred. 
White, A. F. 
Wilder, U. G. 
Woodman, W. W. 



f itma QInimtii.-3lt^ Unrattnu au^ 
ulnpngrapluf. 



LOCATION AND AREA. 

The southweSern corner of Arizona is occupied by Yuma County. Mo- 
have County lies to the north, Maricopa and Pima Counties to the eaS; So- 
nora, Mexico, is its southern neighbor, and the Colorado River washes its 
entire w^e^ern border, and separates the Territory horn California. It com- 
prises an area greater than that of Vermont, or New Hampshire, or Massa- 
chusetts, and would make a state equal in extent to the combined areas of 
Delaware, Connedticut and Rhode Island. Its acreage approximates ten 
thousand square miles, or about six and a half million acres. 

GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY. 

The general topography of the County may be described as a high table, 
or mesa, land, sloping from an elevation of four or five thousand feet, in the 
northeastern corner, to a low plain scarcely I 00 feet above sea level, in the 
southwestern corner. The Bill Williams River, a tributary of the Colorado, 
forms the northern boundary; and the erratic Gila winds its tortuous, turbulent 
way, from east to west, for more than 1 00 miles, through the entire width of 
the County, and pours its tribute of waters into the mighty Colorado behind 
"Prison Hill" at Yuma. The Colorado, deep, silent, mysterious, red with the 
silt gathered hom many soils, washes the County for 225 miles from north to 
south along the western border. 

THE SOIL CONDITIONS. 

Probably one-half the area of the County lies within the valleys of these 
three great rivers. The soil of the valleys is a rich alluvial deposit, formed by 
the accumulation of ages, and varies in color from a dark chocolate to a light 
sandy loam. The whole sedion, in prehistoric times, was a vast lake, or cup- 



like depression, with the mountains forming the rim, with a gap in the rim on 
the southern side, through which the Colorado breaks its way to the gulf. 
The bottom of the cup is filled with the washings and erosions of ages, to 
which has been added the decomposed vegetation of later aeons. 

The soil of the mesa, or table, lands is somewhat different from that of the 
valleys, being looser and coarser, with niore iron in its composition, and being 
filled with small pebbles of undecomposed granite. Under the blaze of the 
desert sun, as one flies across these waterless mesas, behind the iron horse, 
they look wa^e, desolate, barren; but put water on them, and lo! a transfor- 
mation as complete and almo^ as sudden as any in the fabled experience of 



Ur-tr'Pf''~^' 







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•i||ii^."»^'.'4S«^i 




Street Scene in Yuma During Hay Marketing Season. 



Alladin with his wonderful lamp. And here at Yuma one sees a literal ful- 
fillment of the words of Holy Writ: "The desert shall rejoice and blossom as 
the rose." 

The valley lands are alluvial, composed of the finer particles of the washings 
from the mountains, and the decayed vegetable accumulation of countless 
years. There is pradlically no bottom to the soil, in richness it is unrivaled 
on the American Continent, and experts declare that a scientific analysis of the 
soil shows it to be similar in charader to that of the Nile Valley in Egypt, 
and the Colorado River has not inaptly been spoken of as "the American 
Nile." 



E. TRAUTMAN 




Jeweler and Optician 



Yuma, Arizona 



THE MORNING SUN 

Yuma's Only Daily Newspaper 
MULFORD WINSOR. Editor 

THE YUMA SUN 

Southwe^ern Arizona's Be^ Weekly Newspaper 
SUN PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, Yuma, Arizona 

Souvenir Po^ Cards, Souvenir Views, Figures of 
the Great Laguna Dam, Souvenir Curios, Indian 
Baskets, Navajo Blankets. ::::::::::::::::: 

Yuma Stationery Company, Yuma, Arizona 



W. C. GREEN, F. L. PROCTOR, 

President. General Manager. 

Cananea Cattle Company 



HEREFORD CATTLE 

REGISTERED 

SIR RICHARD II, ANXIETY IV, 
LORD WILTON AND GROVE III 

Strains Predominating 

^ Largest Herd in the United States. 

^ Every Animal of Pronounced Beef Type. 

^ Well Known All Over America as the " Colin 

Cameron Registered Hereford Herd." 



SHETLAND PONIES 

CHOICEST ISLAND STRAINS 

Registered in Island and American Stud Books. 
Unequalled for Children. Prices Made on Application. 

COLIN CAMERON, ^cso^. 



Sbr CEnlnraitn Siitrr. 



DRAINAGE BASIN-EXTENT AND CHARACTER. 

The Colorado River drains portions of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, 
Nevs^ Mexico, California and Arizona. Including its principal tributary, the 
Green, it is 2000 miles long and has a drainage basin of over 225,000 
square miles, ranking in size as the second drainage basin in arid America. 

The basin of the Colorado includes several features of peculiar interest: 
The Grand Canyon, made famous by Pow^eH's explorations and writings; the 
Gila River, probably the muddiest and one of the most torrential streams in 
the w^orld; Roosevelt Dam, one of the very highest dams ever built, now be- 
ing constructed at Tonto Basin near Phoenix, Arizona; the Salton Basin, a 
great inland sink, 280 feet below s^a level, which in recent years has been 
dry, but is now receiving the total flow of the Colorado as it probably did in 
ancient times. Indeed, there is unmistakable evidence that it was once a part 
of the Gulf of California. 




Scene on the Colorado River, Showing a Ferry Boat in Mid Stream. 



SILT CARRIED BY THE COLORADO. 

To the thoughtful observer who ^ands at the head of Bright Angel Trail 
and looks into the mighty abyss, which, lacking an adequate name, we simply 
call the Grand Canyon, the que^on mu^ occur, "How was this excavation 
made, and what has become of the material excavated?" The tiny rivulet 
which he sees nearly lo^ in the sand, and which men sometimes call the 
mighty Colorado, has been running there for ages. Each year with its puny 
^rength it carries away a few particles of rock from those mighty walls. As 
it flows it breaks, and granulates, and pulverizes these fragments until when it 
reaches the lower valleys, it drops its load, and man speaks of this little frag- 
ment which the upper country each year contributes as ninety million tons of 
sediment or seventy square miles of soil one foot deep. 

Where once the Gulf of California extended is now solid land, the Delta 
of the Colorado; and further up are smaller valleys on the margin of the river, 
all built up by the river. This soil, the combined produd: of the varied re- 
gions comprised in the 225,000 square miles of the basin of the Colorado, is 
not surpassed in fertility by any portion of the earth's surface that has been 
cultivated by the hand of man, including the valley of the Nile itself. This 
fad; has been demon^ated by crops raised by the settler as well as by the 
analysis of the chemi^. 

The silt carried by the river has been measured and analyzed during the 
pa^ three years by the Reclamation Service, and before that by the Agricul- 
tural Experiment Station of the University of Arizona. These measurements 
show that the silt carried down each year amounts to about 90,000,000 tons 
(dry weight). It contains large amounts of potash, phosphoric acid and nitro- 
gen. The value of the nitrogen alone, at the price paid for it in commercial 
fertilizers, is $1.25 per acre-foot of water, or $5.00 per four acre-feet, the 
amount used yearly in irrigating an average crop. Indeed, the great problem 
is not how to enrich the soil, already the mo^ fertile in the world, but how to 
keep the fertilizer off the land. There is too much. This is no joke. The 
problem of disposing of the mud has been the rock on which have split the 
various private companies which have undertaken to use the waters of the 
Colorado for irrigation. Only the hand of Uncle Sam, dealing with the river 
as a whole and m a large way, is able to cope with it properly. By darnming 
the river, sufficient fall is obtained to dispose of the mud by sluicing. 

FLOODS. 

The problem of irrigating land from the Colorado River may be resolved 
into four fadors: Fir^, to put the water on the land; second, to keep the 
flood water off; third, to drain such portions of the lower land as may become 
water-logged by seepage water; fourth, to dispose of the mud. As compared 



with the fourth, the other problems are insignificant; but the second is in itself 
an expensive task, as any one will recognize who takes a look at the levees 
now being con^rucfted by the Reclamation Service. A portion of these levees 
has already been te^ed by the flood of November 29th, 1905, which has 
been exceeded but once so far as known. 

The following table gives the higher and lowe^ ^ages of the river each 
year for the pa^ twenty-eight years, as observed on the gage at Yuma. This 
gage was established in 1877 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and has 
been observed by the Southern Pacific Railroad or by the United States Ge- 
ological Survey continuously up to the present time. 

YEAR. 



1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1893 
1894 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 



THE GILA. 
The regular annual rise of the Colorado, caused by melting snow in Colo- 



MAXIMUM. 


DATE. 


MINIMUM. 


DATE. 


(FEET.) 




(FEET.) 




23.0 


June 24 


14.7 


Dec. 3 1 


20.0 


May 12 


13.2 


Od. 14 


24.0 


May 3 1 


14.9 


Dec. 8 


23.5 


June 14 


15.0 


Jan. 25 


22.6 


June 18 


15.5 


Dec. 20 


24.5 


July 3 


14.0 


Dec. 14 


a 28.5 


June 27 


14.2 


Dec. 5 


24.7 


June 1 3 


13.7 


Feb. 8 


26.8 


June 6 


14.4 


Jan. 19 


23.5 


June 10 


14.9 


Jan. 26 


21.8 


June 25 


14.8 


Jan. 4 . 


22.4 


June 7 


15.4 


SepL 27 


25.5 


June 5 


16.4 


Jan. 29 


b 33.2 


Feb. 26 


16.4 


SepL 22 


25.5 


July 3 


15.5 


Dec. 3 1 


25.2 


Mav28 


15.5 


Jan. 2 


23.7 


June 14 


15.9 


Jan. 23 


28.2 


Ian. 20 


16.8 


Feb. 1 3 


24.5 


Sept. 30 


17.4 


Dec. 17 


■ 26.1 


June 9 


17.9 


Dec. 2 1 


23.6 


June 27 


17.5 


Jan. 8 


27.0 


July 1 


17.0 


Od. 17 


26.0 


June 10 


16.4 


Sept. 10 


27.2 


May 3 1 


16.2 


Jan. 14 


24.5 


May 26 


16.6 


SepL 28 


27.7 


June 26 


16.8 


Jan. 1 3 


26.3 


June 5 


18.3 


Dec. 27 


31.8 


Nov. 29 


17.8 


Dec- 31 



a. Said to be higheil flood for seventeen years preceding. 

b. Higheil flood recorded. 



rado, Utah and Wyoming, begins sometime during May and la^s about two 
months. Floods coming at other times than during the spring months are gen- 
erally from the Gila. This treacherous stream at its mouth is dry mo^ of the 
time. Occasionally it sends down sudden heavy floods, and in 1 89 1 it swept 
away the town of Yuma, which was then unprotected by levees. In the Gila 
Basin there are several good reservoir sites, by means of which the floods can 
be controlled and the water used for irrigation. The Roosevelt Dam for the 
Tonto Reservoir above mentioned is now being conitrudted, and others are 
contemplated. 

THE DISCHARGE OF THE COLORADO. 

During ordinary seasons the Colorado discharges at low water about 3000 
second-feet (cubic feet per second), and at high water from 50,000 to 75,- 
000 second-feet. During the flood of 1 89 1 it reached a discharge of about 
125,000 second-feet. The annual discharge of the Colorado, without the 
Gila, is about 1 0.000,000 acre-feet. This is sufficient to irrigate two or three 
million acres of land, and this amount of good land is available. 

W. D. SMITH, 

Irrigation Engineer, United States Reclamation Service. 




The Colorado River 



ESTABLISHED IN 1870 



The "ARIZONA SENTINEL" 



Published in Yuma, the Gate- 
way of the Great Southwest 



IS THE PIONEER OF 
ARIZONA WEEKLI ES 



FOR THIRTY-SIX YEARS CONTINUOUSLY PUBLISHED 
WITHOUT MISSING AN ISSUE 

J. W. DORRINGTON 

EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR 

T. L. McCutchen D. L. Bailey 

Yuma Drug Store 

Prescription Pharmacies 

Drugs, Medicines and Fine Chemicals, Toi- 
let Articles, Perfumes, Soaps, 
Rubber Goods, Etc. 

High Grade Cigars 
MAIN STREET ' TELEPHONE 39 



Follow the crowd to the 

New York Department 
Store..... 

Yuma's Leading, Up-to-Date 
Dry Goods, Clothing and Shoe 
House~the real Bargain Center 

One Price 'Che Store thai Saves 2/ou Monei/" Strictly Cash 

Colorado River Lumber Company 

Alex Durward, Manager 
3ea/er in Jill Jlinds of 

Lumber and 
Building Material 

Builders' Hardware, Placer, Lime and Cement 
Office, Corner Third Street and Madison Avenue Yuma, Arizona 



THE COLORADO RIVER-HOW IT IS BEING DIVERTED TO 
YUMA COUNTY'S GREAT BENEFIT. 

Under the above headlines the Chri^mas number of the Arizona Republi- 
can contains a rather brief but mo^ comprehensive article on Yuma and Yu- 
ma County, from which we quote the following: 

"Gateway to the Southwe^, Key to the Valley of the American Nile," is 
the manner in which the modesl resident of Yuma headlines his description of 
the advantages of his home locality. And it's so. For years Yuma has ^rug- 
gled under the malign spread of the ancient blanket ^ory. Now the weather 
bureau has found many places much hotter in we^ern localities that smugly 
have arrogated superior climatic attractions to themselves, and Yuma is becom- 
ing known not for heat, but for the probability that lies ahead that soon will 
she become one of the garden spots of the world. One of the greatest rivers 
on earth flows pa^ her gates, and back of her are scores of thousands of acres 
of rich land, needing only the touch of water to become fruitful in the higheS 
degree. The climate is hot in summer, though of the kind that brings no sun- 
^rokes, and the heat, coupled with the lack of winter fro^s, enables the farmer 
to grow in perfection almost every fruit that can be found in the tropic and 
semi-tropic zones. 

That Yuma has more than mere hope on which to base dreams of a great 
future is shown by the fadl that hundreds of men, driven even by night under 
the eledlric lights, are toiling upon the constiudlion of a Government dam 
across the Colorado, twelve miles above the city. Officially it is the Laguna 
Dam. A part of its construcftion is charged against the California side of the 
river, where, at the start, it will irrigate about 15,000 acres, largely to the 
benefit of the Yuma Indian Tribe. If the Government ever takes over the 
Imperial Projedt, on the lower border of California, it is possible that one of 
the largest canals ever known will lead away from the California end of the 
dam. But as far as now known, the main attribute of the strucfture will be 
the diversion of water for the irrigation of 73,100 acres lying around Yuma, 
Arizona. These lands will be called upon to repay the Government their 
part of the cost of construction, but their value will be so much increased that 
the burden is expeded to be a light one— less than $40 an acre. 

There is no expectation of making the Laguna Dam a storage enterprise. 
The river takes care of that itself, for its flow, fed by the melting snows from 
the mountains of Colorado, is greatest m summer, the time of greatest need. 
The dam will simply divert. Bedrock is an unknown quantity, impracticable 
to reach. So the construction will be a weir, similar to three that have proved 
effective across the Nile, in Egypt. It will back the water for ten miles, 
though the water depth at the weir will be only ten feet. Safety will be as- 
sured by the use of sheet piling, and the building of steel and masonry walls 



across the river between the natural rock abutments. The dam will be only 
nineteen feet in extreme height above the river bed, but will be a mile long- 
to be exad, 5470 feet. The main canal on the Arizona side will be fifty 
feet in width, with a depth of eight feet. Though the Colorado is, next to 
the Gila, the muddied ^ream in the Southwe^, it is believed that the Gov- 
ernment engineers have found a practicable plan for ridding the water of moft 
of the silt held in solution, by means of flushing gates below a settling basin, 
into which the water is admitted only by skimming from the comparatively 
clear surface of the river. One of the harden engineering problems solved 
was that of passing the Gila river, which enters the Colorado from the ea^. 




Nli^U 



i ' 




Scene on the Colorado River, Showing the Draw Bridge at 'l uma Open for a Steamer to Pass 



just above Yuma. This will be done by means of three ten-foot concrete 
tunnels, steel lined, their top§ several feet below the bottom of the river channel. 

Beside the land to be irrigated by this canal, in the vicinity of Yuma are 
about 90,000 acres that can be brought under cultivation by raising water 
from the river. It is proposed to irrigate 25,000 acres of these lands by rais- 
ing water from the main canal on the Arizona side, power being furnished by 
ele(5lrical energy generated at or near the dam. 

In the low lands in the river bottom near Yuma now is being constru<fled a 
long levee that will save the farms from overflow in time of high water. 
Twelve miles of this levee is already under construcftion. 



THE FAMOUS HEALTH RESORT-The Agua 



Caliente Springs of Arizona. 



Rest for the Exhausted 
Cure for the Invalid 




HIGHEST AWARD 

The Agua Caliente Springs of Arizona Was Given the 
Above Award on Its Own Merits 



Hotel Modesti... 

ALTHEE MODESTI, Proprietor 

Rooms Large, Comfortable 
and Well Ventilated 

Daily Stage and Mail, except Sunday, 
from Sentinel on S. P. Railroad. Private 
Telephone Line Conneds Hotel with Sen- 
tinel Station. Good Sleeping Accommo- 
dations and Meals at Sentinel. 

Both Winter and Summer Resort 

Water Contains Wonderful Curative and 
Recuperative Properties, Especially Adap- 
ted to the Cure of Rheumatism and All 
Blood Diseases. 



DR. THOMAS J. PUGH 

House Surgeon 



County Physician 



Yuma County Hospital 

South Main Street 
Yuma :: :: :: :: Arizona 

Ideal Location, Clean, Sanitary. 

Abundance of Fresh Air and Sunshine. 

Excellent Accommodations for Private 
Patients. 

Experienced Hospital Nurse in attendance 

The Yuma Climate is particularly fine for 
pulmonary affections and rheumatism. 



O. C. JOHNSON W. A. BOWLES 

JOHNSON & BOWLES 

Wholesale and Retail 

Fancy Groceries, Shelf Hardware, Tobacco and Cigars. Harness 
Department in Connexion; Competent Harness Maker 
in Attendance. Agents for Studebaker Wag- 
ons and Giant Powder Co., Conn. 
Prices the Same to All. 



Night Phone at Parlors, 96 Day Phone 62 

Office Open All Night 

F. W. Murphy, Manager and Embalmer. 

With Johnson & Bowles, Undertakers. 
Lady Assistant Corner Third and Main Streets 

Yuma Heights Fruit Co. 



Was awarded medals at the St. Louis 
World's Fair as follows: 

Gold Medal for Grape Fruit 
Silver Medal for Grapes 
Bronze Medal for Cantaloupes 

WE BEAT THE WORLD ON EARLY FRUIT 



Already irrigating a comparatively small expanse of land back of Yuma and 
down the river are several canals, locally controlled, that will probably be ac- 
quired by the land owners under the terms of the Irrigation Adt. One of 
these canals secures its water through the lift from the Colorado at Yuma. 
Up the Gila River, within the County, are a number of farming communities 
with small irrigation sy^ems. One of the earlier water borage projects known 
was commenced on the Gila years ago, but went to pieces before adtual con- 
^rudion was begun. It is a curious facft that few corporate irrigation enter- 
prises ever have been successful. This South Gila Projedt is now being re- 
vived. 



Stiir f uma Pr0;?flt. 



In a fine article entitled, "The Eden Makers," in the American Magazine 
for March, the current year, Julian Willard Helburn has this to say of the 
Yuma Projedt: 

"The Yuma Projedt has made more trouble than any of the others. The 
irrigable area is relatively small, but the Colorado River is the bigge^ and 
mo^ intradtable that the Reclamation Service has yet had to harness. Not 
content with the bad habits of our We^ern breams, it has borrowed some 
hoary wiles from the Nile and the Ganges. From its 225,000 square miles 
of basin, it drains annually eleven million acre feet of water and a good deal 
of land as well. It's the dirtied river in the country; the Missouri and the 
Rio Grande are limpid by contrast. In flood time it carries 1,500,000 tons 
of silt pa^ Yuma every day. This silt is so fine that it does settle entirely on 
landing forty-eight hours, so rich that it brings $4 an acre as fertilizer, and so 
thick that it unfits the water for almo^ any use. 

"The Colorado tears its way through the Grand Canyon and similar coun- 
try, all conspicuously lacking in reservoir sites, to a point a few miles above 
Yuma, where it issues onto the flatted of flat deltas. Here the river loses its 
speed and deposits its silt. The deposits have gradually built up its bed, so 
that it runs from Yuma to the sea on a natural aquedudl, a cup-topped ridge 
high above the surrounding country. When the floods come, in the early 
summer, it spills over and inundates the valley for miles, covering it with a 
layer of silt. During the re^ of the year the land is parched. 

"The conditions are exadtly those of the Nile Valley. The date palm, 
which grows nowhere else on the Continent, flourishes here. So do the olive 




Offices of the United States Reclamation Service, Yuma. 



and the pineapple. The growing season la^s 365 days in the year. Yuma 
oranges, Yuma vegetables ripen two weeks or more before those of the re^ 
of the country. Given irrigation, the Valley, with its steady heat and inex- 
haustible soil, will be literally a forcing bed, one great unglazed ho'house. 

"The task of the Reclamation Service was three-fold: To induce the river 
to give over its starve-and-surfeit method of water-supply in favor of steady ir- 
rigation; to store water without a reservoir site, and to distribute water no bet- 
ter adapted to ordinary irrigation works than cold molasses. 

"Stopping the inundations was a simple though expensive undertaking, a 
matter of raising the walls of the natural aquedudt too high for the river to 
spill over. The Colorado and its tributary, the Gila, are being lined with miles 
and miles of earthern levees, the first perfecft levees ever built. They are con- 
structed on a three to one slope, that is, their width at base is six or seven 
times their height. This means absolute resistance to the water, but at so 
great an expense for material that it has never been attempted before. 

"The storage problem was hidden at first by the existence of a beautiful 
natural reservoir site, a long basin at the edge of the hills, just above Yuma. 
The engineers intended to throw a storage dam across the mouth of the basin, 
until they called in the diamond drills to find bed rock. The drills went down 
through nine hundred feet of unvarying silt. The silt didn't quit at nine hun- 



J 



dred feet, but the drills did. It seemed that they were hunting the bottom of 
a second Grand Canyon, filled to the brim with the scourings of the first. 

"The tremendous pressure on a storage dam, of course, makes a bed rock 
foundation indispensable. The engineers went up stream hunting a site. They 
reached the point where the Colorado is formed by the confluence of the 
Green and the Grand, without finding one. Finally they found their sites— a 
dam for the Grand in the Gore Canyon, in Northwestern Colorado; a dam 
for the Green in Wyoming. For a projedt on the Mexican boundary they 
had had to go more than half way to Canada for their water supply. When 
the project is complete the mighty Colorado, the sculptor of the Grand Can- 
yon, will cease to exist; it will be merely the outlet channel for the reservoirs 
of the Reclamation Service. 

"To utilize the broth that does duty for water in the Colorado, the Recla- 
mation engineers took a leaf from the cook book. They determined to let the 
river—the whole Colorado River— settle, and pour it off. The delusive reser- 
voir site was available as a settling basin. It would not support a storage dam 
—but they knew more than one way to skin a cat. They are building a dam 
of the India weir pattern, a flat sill of masonry, 267 feet wide and nineteen 
feet high, across the channel. The silt goes under it, the water goes over it. 
But its immense weight and spread keeps it in place, and while it does not 
stop the water, it banks it up six feet above low water level, making a ten 
mile lake in the natural basin and allowing the water to slacken and partially 
to settle. In the brief respite not much of the silt is really deposited, yet the 
top foot of water becomes comparatively clear and the canals, heading lateral- 
ly on the sides of the basin just above the dam, draw off this top foot and no 
more. Simple, really, isn't it? 

"In the Yuma Projed: international difficulties begin to complicate the phys- 
ical obstacles. By the terms of our treaty with Mexico the Colorado is a 
navigable stream, and any diversion of its waters is a menace to navigation 
and a breach of treaty. No one but a few weatherbeaten ducks ever dreamed 
of navigating the Colorado, and for all the Mexican Government cares we 
might divert its waters to Medicine Hat. But the lower Colorado delta, be- 
low the Mexican line, is marvelously rich, unimproved land, even richer than 
the Yuma Valley, and quite naturally has passed from the ingenuous Latin- 
Americans to the hands of American promoters. These gentlemen, seeing 
their potential water supply gliding down the Reclamation canals, are pressing 
Mexico to call a halt on the Yuma Project. 

"If she does, the Reclamation Service will quote Adam's retort to Eve, 
'You bit first.' The California Development Company was organized a few 
years ago to irrigate the Imperial Valley of California by a canal from the Col- 
orado, and applied to the War Department for permission to head its canal 
on the river just above the Mexican line. The War Department had no ju- 



risdidlion and replied that it didn't care in the lea^ possible degree what the 
company did. This the company took for permission. Then the Yuma Pro- 
jedt was launched. The company sniffed trouble afar, obtained a license from 
Mexico and moved its canal head across the border. Wherefore, if the treaty 
is to be observed, Mexico will be held to the fir^ accounting. 

"But these bickerings are likely to be forgotten in the shadow of a great 
cata^rophe. Forsaking its old bed, the Colorado is pouring down the Cali- 
fornia Development Company's canal into the sunken Imperial Valley, from 
which there is no exit. There are fears that the stream cannot be turned, 
and that the whole valley is doomed. Treaty or no treaty, the lower delta 
will get no water till the great sunken cup is full and the river spills back into 
its old course. But that is a ^ory by itself." 

PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

The National Reclamation Adt was passed June, 1902. During 1903-4 
the surveys for this projedt for the reclamation of the valley lands of the Colo- 
rado and Gila Rivers were made by the engineers of the United States Rec- 
lamation Service. When the news came that the surveys and estimates had 
been approved, and the sum of $3,000,000 set aside by the Secretary of the 
Interior for the purpose of construdting this great irrigation work, all Yuma 




Yuma Office of J. G. White & Company, Laguna Dam Contradors. 




Baizes Cold Storage 
Market 

D^resh SBeef. Veal. 3Cutton, Pork. 
Sausage, S^ologna. Jiead Cheese, 
Salt and jill Jiinds of S^repared 
SfCeals. J2ive and 2)ressed Chick- 
ens and KJtirkeys. 5^resh Creamery 
Sautter a Specialty. 



Yuma Stables 

Single or Double 
Seated Vehicles, 
Open or With Tops. 
Will Carry Parties to 
Mining Camps or 
Elsewhere. Drivers 
Furnished at Reason- 
able Rates. 

ji 3ine 3iearse in Connection 



LOUIE ESSELBURN, Prop. 

Fir^ St., Between 
Main and Madison 

Telephone 236 Yuma, Arizona 



Wells, Fargo & Co. 
Express 






Express Carriers Express Forwarders. 

3rom Ocean to Ocean and jicross the Seas. 

Over 40.000 Sfiiles of Service. 

Sssues Sxpress S/fioney Orders. J ay able Jlnyiohere. 



O. F. Townsend, Agent, Yuma, Arizona. 



Imported Shire 

Owned by W. H. Lyon 




Name: 
Ely Fop (21,395) 7587 England 

Bred by Martin Pate Ely Combs 

Sire: Ely Oak, Mo. (1 7,331) 

Dam: Ely Fancy (28,47 I ) 
by Ely Harold (11,367) 

For breeding purposes, apply at 

W. H. LYON'S, Mode^i Block. 



went wild with delight. The hopes and dreams of years were nearing reali- 
zation. The Yuma County Water Users' Association was organized to ren- 
der assistance in furthering the enterprise. The bids were in due time 
advertised and opened, first for the construction of the great Laguna Dam, to 
J. G. White & Company, of New York, and later for the building of a sec- 
tion of the levee on the Colorado River, to Miller & Peasley, of Los Angeles. 
The latter firm has completed its contract, and at this writing has a sub-con- 
tradt with J. G. White & Company, at the Laguna Dam Site. The work is 
progressing rapidly and steadily, and will probably be completed before an- 
other flood season. Bids for construding other sections of the levee have been 
advertised and contradls let to Yuma Valley farmers, who will in this way re- 
ceive a double benefit. Before many months the entire Valley to the line of 
Old Mexico will be under the protecftion of levees, and the disastrous floods 
of former years will have become "ancient history." 

It will probably be two years and a half more before the entire system of 
irrigation in Yuma County will be finished, and ready to turn the life-giving 
waters upon the eager waiting land. 

Right here, we send an urgent invitation to the possessors of good Ameri- 
can brain and brawn, to come and help us celebrate, for great will be that 
day for Yuma and Yuma County. 



Q^lxt f uma (Enuntg Mnttr Users' 
A00nriati0n. 



The Yuma County Water Users' Association is an association of individ- 
uals, duly incorporated under the laws of the Territory of Arizona, claiming 
the right to the use of water and owning lands within the area to be supplied 
by the works of the Government. It was formed to assure the Government 
that the land owners will apply for water from the irrigation works, and that 
they will so adjust the exiting claims to the use of water, that the administra- 
tion of all the water available for the lands under the projedl, whether supplied 
from private or from Government irrigation works, shall be under one control, 
viz, that of the water users themselves. This organization is necessary, in or- 
der that there may be supervision over the di^nbution of water to lands in 
private ownership, as contemplated by Se<flion 6 of the Reclamation A<ft. 

Persons joining this Association are required (1) to agree to turn over to 
the management of the Association the water which they have heretofore ap- 



propriated, to be administered in connedtion with the additional water supply 
furnished from the Government irrigation sy^em. (2) They agree to make 
their former water rights as well as the Government water rights appurtenant 
to the lands irrigated. (3) They agree to pay the charges for the water 
rights required by the Reclamation Adt. (4) They agree that their land 
shall be security for the Government charge for water, and that such charge 
shall be a lien on the land, which the Association may enforce, if they do not 
pay for the water. (5) They agree to dispose of the lands they own in ex- 
cess of the limit of land in private ownership permitted to apply for water from 
the Government system. 

The Association is managed diredtly by the water users themselves, and 
through the officers eledled by them. It will have the admini^ering and di^ri- 
bution of all the water furnished by the Government sy^em. Each member 
will receive his proportional part of the entire supply in the hands of the Asso- 
ciation, not in excess of the amount necessary for the proper cultivation of this 
land, as beneficial use only shall be the basis, the measure and the limit of the 
water right. 

The Association in its contrad with the Secretary of the Interior has bound 
itself and agrees to guarantee the payment for the Government con^rudtion 
and will enforce colledtion from its shareholders, by means of the lien on their 
lands, if necessary. Each shareholder derives a benefit from this lien, as it 
protedts him again^ the possibility of being required to pay for a shiftless 
neighbor's water right, for without the lien the Association would be required 
to assess each member for any deficiency. The total co^ of the water right 
will amount, according to the e^imate, to about $35 per acre irrigated. It is 
entirely possible, however, that as the con^rudlion work proceeds this co^ 
may be somewhat increased or lessened, although an effort has been made to 
cover all contingencies. The price will range near $35 per acre, this to be 
paid for according to the provisions of the Reclamation Adt and regulations of 
the Secretary of the Interior, in ten annual in^allments after the first delivery 
of water, or, what is still more likely, after the harvesting of the first year's 
crops. 

The annual charge for maintenance and supervision of this canal sys- 
tem will be very low and probably materially less than one dollar per acre. 
There will be no charge for interest, profit, or taxes. Any land owner within 
the Yuma Projedt who desires to acquire a water right must become a mem- 
ber of this Association and subscribe to all the requirements of membership, 
and afterwards make application to the Government for a water right, when it 
is ready to receive such. 

R J. MILLER, 

Secretary Yuma County Water Users' Association. 



Clean. lOell D'tirnished S/looms. 8u- 
ropean SPlan. Sood Sample Slooms 
3ree. ^irsl-Claxs Slestaurant Con- 
nected with 3(otel. 3ree Slus, to and 
from 2)epot 



Hotel 
Gandolfo 

3ierbert S^roion 
Proprietor 

YUMA ARIZONA 

3ierbert Sirown 7. Si. Stiley 



The Yuma 
.... Dairy. . . . 



A. H. KENT 
Proprietor 



Pure Milk and 
Cream 



Thos. Stratton 



J. P. Moffat 



Brown, 
Riley & Co. 

Real E^ate, Mines 
and Insurance 



:^-^ 
•^^r 



Office at Uelepfione 1 7 

Jiotel Sandolfo IJuma. Jirizona 



A9 

vs 



Thos. Stratton 
& Co. 

Blacksmi thing and all 

kinds of Wood 

Work 

Main Street Yuma, Arizona 



The enterprise 

^ands for 
the intere^s 
of the 

plain people 
of Yuma 
County. 

The People's Paper. 

Yuma, Arizona 

Railroad 
Exchange 

JOHN STOFFELA. PROPRIETOR 

Dealer in 

Fancy and Wet Goods, and 
General Merchandise 

Reading Room and Light Lunches 

Opposite Freight Depot 

Main Street Yuma, Arizona 



SHOREY'S 

SOUTHWESTERN 

NEWS CO. 

Stationery 

Newspapers 

Magazines 

Books 

Candy 

Cigars 

Laundry and 

Talking Machines 

"See Shorey About It'' 

A. L. DeMund 

TDholesale and Sietail 
2)ealer in 

Pine and Redwood 
Lumber 



^ Po^s, Shingles and Building Ma- 
terials of All Kinds. ^ Mouldings and 
Mill Work. ^ Builders' Hardware. 
C|[ Paints and Oils. ^ Lime and Ce- 
ment. ^ Agent for Pittsburg Patent 
Fencing and Mahhoid Roofing 



YUMA TELEPHONE NO. ARIZONA 



f uma QlUmat^^ 



The climate of Yuma, always an interesting theme, especially among the 
people of the East who have formed their ideas concerning it from the widely 
circulated yarns emanating from alleged humorists, is herewith intelligently dis- 
cussed by Mr. S. Hackett, official head of the United States Weather Bureau 
at this Nation. Mr. Hackett says: 

"In an inquiry regarding Yuma the flrA que^ion asked is one concerning 
temperatures, and the manner in which such interrogatories are made brings 




Yuma Heights Sanitarium. 



out the fadl that the fable of John Phoenix's soldier and widely circulated tales 
of the would-be humori^s have had more weight m forming the erroneous 
opinions generally held of Yuma's climate than the experiences of residents 
and the accumulated record of fadts and figures collecfted by the Weather 
Bureau during twenty-five years. 

"The weather we experience can neither be expressed in degrees Fahren- 
heit nor put into figures for comparison with those of better known and more 



humid climates, but is contingent upon preceding weather conditions and the 
changes therefrom, diet and clothing being largely relative. 

"Occasionally a visitor ^ops off at Yuma for a few days in midsummer, 
who, having his sy^em fortified by a generous diet and wearing clothes for 
protection again^ the cool wave always imminent in other localities, fairly siz- 
zles in his own accumulated heat, and goes away to publish the fad that the 
weather here nearly killed him. 

"Again, thermometric readings do not express the temperature felt by ani- 
mal life here. We might term these readings adual temperatures and the 
sensation of heat or cold as felt by animal life the sensible temperatures. 
Neither of these is reducible to the other except by the application of a coef- 
ficient varying as the amount of humidity in the air. 

"During twenty-six years the adtual temperature has risen upon some day in 
June, July or Augu^ to maxima, on four occasions to 1 1 6 degrees, on three 
occasions to 1 I 7 degrees, and once a temperature of I 1 8 degrees was re- 
corded, h will be noted that these temperatures occurred only eight times in 
twenty-six years, and we think the assertion safe that there was no suffering 
or loss of dome^ic animals from the heat. An adtual temperature of 1 1 6 de- 
grees was recorded upon June 24th, 1902, and men continued their work in 
the harve^ fields without discomfort to themselves or the working stock, or 
without even knowing that high temperatures were being recorded; yet during 
the last six days of September of the same year people complained some of 
the heat and the adtual maximum temperatures recorded upon those days were 
each below 1 00 degrees. So it will be seen that conclusions drawn from 
comparisons of Yuma's climatic figures with those of more humid climates. 
East or West, are unreliable and misleading. 

"The next question in the order asked is: 'Does it ever rain?' Yes; the 
rainfall at Yuma is a shade under three inches per year, which is just about 
enough to keep the dust laid. 

" 'What about your frightful sand storms?' They are a myth. Occasionally 
we have maximum wind velocities of thirty to forty miles per hour, and some 
dust is raised, as would be the case elsewhere except upon the ocean, but 
tornadoes are never known, and the continuance of wind storms is rarely 
more than twelve hours, and buildings or trees are never injured by their 
violence. 

"With rarely any approach of closeness or sultriness, that condition so well 
known and dreaded, Yuma, because of proximity to the Gulf of California, 
also escapes that other extreme known as aridity, which so discomforts men or 
animals and retards the development of plant life. 

"With minimum temperatures rarely low enough to injure the most delicate 
plants, with no frosts, Yuma basks m the sunshine of a winter as beauliful as 
any in the world, and as the warm weather of summer approaches, the Gulf 



of Californm gives us breezes as soft and cooling as ever rippled the Aegean, 
or made music through the palms of the Ionian Isles." 



















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T^llA 


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izi 


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IHWB^ 


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3 


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5 























Orange Avenue, Yuma. 



S^ntl anb Probuflinns. 



[Ejctradls from Reprint of Field Operations, Bureau of Soils, 1902, enti- 
tled "Soil Survey of the Yuma Area, Arizona," by J. Garnett Holmes.] 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES OF THE AREA. 

The part of the Colorado River Valley covered by this survey occtp es 
the extreme southwe^ern corner of Arizona. The area is a long, narrow ^rip 
beginning at the Town of Yuma emd extending southwest along the Colorado 
River. It is bounded on the east and south by a bluff or river terrace from 
forty to sevent>'-five feet high that separates the bottom lands from a high, 
level mesa. This mesa is cut by the river at Yuma and comes to within a 
mile of the river just south of the limits of the survey. Across the river to the 



northward is the State of California, and west of the river where it flows 
nearly south is Lower California, a Territory of the Republic of Mexico. The 
area comprises in all about 1 00 square mileS, or 63,469 acres. 

PHYSIOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY. 

The valley as a whole is a plain gently sloping to the southwest, broken 
only by the local occurrence of sand dunes, gullies, lagoons, or old river beds. 
These minor departures from grade interfere with agriculture chiefly in that 
they make preparation for irrigation expensive. In some places, as in the areas 
where sand dunes are mapped, economical cultivation is at present impractica- 
ble, but most of the land requires very little leveling to prepare it for irrigation. 

This area forms a part of the eastern upper end of the Colorado River 
Delta. The entire valley is made up of sediments, and consists of a great 
bed of sand, overlain and interstratifled with layers of finer material, left by 
the river as it shifted its course from one side of the valley to the other. The 
soils are not diredly traceable to the rock whence they were derived, as the 
Colorado drains an immense area and has a great number of tributaries, any 
one of which may be chiefly responsible, at different seasons, for the sediment 
carried by this lower part of the ^eam. About seventy-five per cent of the 
lands of the valley are overflowed and a layer of sediment added to the soil 
each year. The deposition has been much greater near the present ^ream 




Yuma Valley Corn Field. 



Foster's Sprint Shop 



Uhe Onltf Sxelusioe ^ob Sprinting Office in ^unia 



Robert L. Morton 



Mining Engineer 



Jill DCinds of 
Sarvti/iHg and Jl»saying 

U. S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor 






Box 204 



Yuma. Arizona 



C. jO. Miekaon 



Jt. Slos» 



Yuma Photo Co. 

Photo Artists 
AS 

Viewing in any part of the County 
neatly done on short notice. 
Enlarging to order. 
Kodaks and supplies for sale. 
Kodak finishing for the trade. 
Kodaks for rent free. 

SfCain Street ^uaia. Jirizona 

Opposite the Diew ^orA Store 



The Insured Light Co. 

924 Santa Monica Ave., Los Angeles, Cal. 



We manufadlure all kinds of Hydro-carbon 
Gas Machines, Systems, and Post Lamps 
for street lighting and constru(5tion work; also 
do novelty and model work. 



Represented by Parks & Harris, Plumbers 

Phone 102 : : : : : : : : Yuma, Arizona 

Yuma Ice Co> 

Manufadturers of Distilled 
Water Ice. 

Bottlers of Soda Waters 
and Agua Caliente Min- 
eral Water. 

Agents for Wieland and 
Rainier Beer. 

YUMA . - ARIZONA 




Scene at the Colorado River Landing, Foot of Main Street, Yuma. 



bed than farther back, so that the lands immediately bordering the stream are 
higher and covered by only a few mches of water durmg flood season, while 
those farther back may in places stand under seven or eight feet of water. 

SOILS. 

The soils of the valley have a common origin, and therefore differ mainly 
in texiure. As a result principally of this difference in texture the soils are 
now found to contain widely varying amounts of soluble mineral matter and 
humus. All of the soils, even the heaviest, are underlain at a few feet by 
sand, which extends to unknown depths. This sand is in places quite coarse, 
but the greater part is very fine and of the nature of quicksand. When this 
very fine sand is found on the surface, it forms the fine sandy loam. 

The following five types of soil were recognized: Imperial sand. Imperial 
sandy loam, Gila fine sandy loam, Santiago silt loam, and Imperial loam. 

IMPERIAL SAND. 

The Imperial sand occupies about fourteen square miles, or 14.3 per cent 
of the total area surveyed. It is found skirting the sandy mesa and in isolated 
areas throughout that part of the valley that is not subjedted to overflow. 
Excepting the dunesand phase of this soil, the surface is comparatively level. 
Along the mesa the soil is formed diredly by the wearing down of the mesa, 



the sand as the coarser produd of weathering being deposited along its base. 
The other areas are of river sand that, unlike the same material over the 
greater part of the valley, has no covering of finer sediment deposited upon it. 
Every rainfall of any extent adds to the sand soil along the mesa, showing 
plainly its process of formation. 

The Imperial sand is a loose, mcoherent reddish-brown sand. Along the 
mesa it is in places not more than three or four feet deep, underlain by a sandy 
loam; the sandy loam subsoil representing the soil that was formed by the ad- 
mixture of sand from the mesa and loam from the river when the overflow 
reached the base of the mesa. The sand has since been deposited upon this 
sandy loam. The adlion of the wind has transformed large areas of this valu- 
able sand soil into dune lands, with sand dunes often from five to twenty feet 
high. 

The co^ of leveling such land, with level land at the present prices, would 
not pay, and the development of these rougher areas will naturally be post- 
poned until the more level areas have been brought under cultivation and val- 
ues have risen to a point that will warrant the inve^ment of the considerable 
amount of money necessary to fit the soil for irrigation. 

Alfalfa is the only crop that has been grown commercially upon this soil, 
although it is an admirable soil for the growth of truck crops, such as sweet 
potatoes, melons, onions, etc. Like most sandy soils, it is well drained and 
free from alkali. 




Slacking Hiy in Yuma Va!le)'. 



IMPERIAL SANDY LOAM. 

The Imperial sandy loam, like the Imperial sand, is situated principally in 
the part of the valley not at present subject to overflow. The surface of this 
soil is usually comparatively level, requiring very little work to prepare it for 
irrigation. It has been formed by the admixture of sediment from the river 
with coarser material transported from the higher land surrounding the valley. 

This soil is a loose, friable brown sandy loam of good texture, easy to culti- 
vate, and requiring little cultivation to maintain good tilth. It is usually under- 
lain by sand at a depth of from three to four feet. In some places, however, 
two or three feet of loam intervene between the soil and the sand subsoil. 

The water table of the entire valley is high, being on an average but ten 
feet below the surface, and this soil, owing to a high capillary power, has in 
places accumulated considerable alkali. Not only has the soil a high capillary 
power, but water moves through it quickly, making the total amount of water 
evaporated from its surface quite large. For these reasons, if the soil is left 
uncultivated the accumulation of alkali is rapid, but under cultivation with irri- 
gation the accumulation is avoided by the presence of the surface mulch and 
the ready leaching out of the salts. 

Alfalfa, sorghum, barley, and kindred field cropjs sure the only ones that 
have as yet been grown to any extent on this soil. 

GILA FINE SANDY LOAM. 

The Gila fine sandy loam is found in a long, narrow ^rip skirting the river, 
and in other parallel ^rips which probably represent the margins of former 
river courses. The surface is level and usually covered with a dense growth 
of arrow weed, willows, etc, This soil is formed of the particles of sediment 
first deposited by the overflow water, the finer particles of silt and clay being 
carried farther inland or down^ream and deposited in stiller water. 

The Gila fine sandy loam is a fine sand having the properties of a sandy 
loam. The particles are nearly all of uniform size, making a soil of high cap- 
illary power and one through which water not only moves long di^ances but 
also with great rapidity. It is easily cultivated and remains in good tilth for a 
long time. The surface soil is from three to twenty feet deep and is underlain 
by a coarser river sand. 

Owing to its high capillary power and the nearness of the water table to 
trie surface over mo^ of the areas of this soil, the greater care mu^ be taken 
to prevent the rise of alkali after the removal of the natural vegetation. With 
proper care, however, it should be one of the mo^ produ<5tive soils of the 
valley. 

Crops of almoft any kind suited to the climate do exceptionally well on this 
soil. Alfalfa is the principal crop grown. Very little of this soil is at present 
under cultivation. 

















Yuma, 


DR. H. V. CLYMER 

Rooms 52 and 53 

Gandolfo Hotel 

Hours - - - 2:00 to 4:00 

Yuma, Arizona 


J. A. KETCHERSIDE 

Physician and 
Surgeon 

Physician for S. .P. Co. 

Office: Baker Block 

Main St. 


HENRI AP JOHN, M. D. 

Physician and Surgeon 
Telephone 82 


DR. J. F. TEUFERT 

Dentin 
Room 5 1 Gandolfo Hotel W 

Office Hours \ 
9 a. m. to 5 p. m. 


DR. THOMAS J. PU( 

Physician and Surgeor 

Makes a specialty 
of treating diseas- 
es of women and 
children. 

Office at Residence, on Main Street, 1 
Third and Fourth. Phone No. 


OH 

1 

)efween 

8. 


Wupperman & Wupperman 

Attorneys-at- Law 

Notary Public. Typewriting 

Offices: Wupperman Building i 
Telephone 6 

Yuma - - - Arizona j 




PETER T. ROBERTSON 
Attorney-at-Law 

Office in Cotter Building 

Yuma - - - Arizona 



C. L BROWN 
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW 

New Candolfo Building 

Yuma - - Arizona 



TIMMONS & BAXTER 
Attorneys-at-Law 

Notary Public 

Pra(ftice in all the Courts of the Ter- 
ritory. Special attention to Min- 
ing and Land Laws 

P. O. Box 401 . FirA Slreet. South Side 

Yuma. Arizona 



O. F. TOWNSEND 

Real E^ate 



Yi 



Aris 



W. H. ELLIOTT 

Civil Engineer 

Deputy United States Mineral 
Surveyor 

Plans, EL^hmates and Surveys 



R. R. THORNTON 
Architedl and Superintendent 

Plans and Specifications 

made to order on 

short notice 

Office; FirSl Avenue and Orange Avenue 

YUMA. ARIZONA 



SANTIAGO SILT LOAM. 

Like nearly all the other soils of the valley, the Santiago silt loam is com- 
posed of deposits laid down by the Colorado River. It differs from the Gila 
fine sandy loam only in that the particles of soil are finer being the intermedi- 
ary soil between the Gila line sandy loam and the Imperial loam. It is well 
decomposed, contains much organic matter, and is very rich in plant food. 
The surface covering of grayish to dark-brown friable silt loam has a depth of 
from eighteen to thirty inches and is underlain by fine sandy loam or sand. 
Taking into consideration the shifting nature of the river and the fad that all 
the overflow lands are con^antly subjedted to change, the exigence of areas of 
this and other soils in the overflow part of the valley may not be at all perma- 
nent. A few years of deposition of loam or sand, caused by a change in the 
bed of the river, would be sufficient to obliterate present soil boundaries and 
necessitate reclassification. 

Only about six square miles of the Santiago silt loam were found m the val- 
ley, the occurrence of the type being limited to a small di^ridt in the neigh- 
borhood of the large bend in the river. This soil has a level surface and in 
its natural condition is covered with wild hemp, arrow weed, annual grasses 
and willows. A small proportion of the Santiago silt loam contains injurious 
amounts of alkali and nearly all contains at lea^ a small amount. 

None of this soil is now cultivated, but experience with like soil in other 



1 




Main Street Residence, Yuma. 



regions has shown it to be well suited to all common field crops, as well as to 
some special crops. It is on a similar soil in Orange County, California, that 
mo^ of the celery produced in that County is grown, while it is one of the 
mo^ important bean soils of Ventura County, in the same State. 

IMPERIAL LOAM. 

The Imperial loam occupies by far the large^ proportion of the area sur- 
veyed. Wherever the overflow water is comparatively ^ill for any length of 
time this soil is deposited, and hence mo^ of it is found as a covering for the 
other soils of the overflowed di^ri(5t. Its surface is comparatively level, except 
for the intersecting gullies and channels. Should the overflow area be protedl- 
ed by embankments, very little difficulty would be experienced in leveling the 
entire area of this soil for irngat.on. 

The Imperial loam is a ^icky, pla^ic, chocolate-brown loam, composed of 
finely divided particles of mineral matter and a considerable proportion of or- 
ganic matter. The surface soil ranges from one to six feet in depth and is 
undedain by a coarse to fine sand. Much of the soil that is not overflowed 
already contains an excessive amount of alkali, and wherever the soil is five 
feet or more in depth the greatejt care must be exercised if future accumula- 
tion is to be prevented. It is the soil most liable to become alkaline under 
cultivation and irrigation. 




Residence of P. B. Hodges, Orange Avenue, 'i uiii 



Some small areas of this soil lying above high water have been successfully 
cultivated to alfalfa, sorghum, and other field crops. The type is vs^ell adapt- 
ed to the growing of wheat, corn, and alfalfa when cut for hay and not pas- 
tured. When used for pasture the soil packs very hard and the alfalfa is 
killed. At present the greater part of the area of this soil is overflowed annu- 
ally and cannot be cultivated with any certainty of success until this water is in 
some manner kept off. 

AGRICULTURAL METHODS. 

There are other que^ions of great importance to be considered when farm- 
ing is begun in interest, such as the kinds of crops to be grown and the rota- 
tion to be followed so that the soils may retain their great fertility. The 
Colorado River has often been called the Nile of North America. The sed- 
iment carried by both these rivers is very rich in plant food, making it well- 
nigh impossible to impoverish lands irrigated with their waters. Lands along 
the Nile have been cropped for centuries, and yet when they receive their 
full quota of rich sediment they produce crops m abundance. The climate of 
the Upper Nile region and of this Lower Colorado River country are in many 
ways similar, so that many of the crops which have thrived for centu- 
ries in Egypt would no doubt prove profitable here. Already adtive ^eps 
have been taken by the Department to introduce some of these crops. The 
farmers of this di^ricft should do everything in their power to make these intro- 
dudions a success, as they may mean the difference between success and fail- 
ure of the agricultural indu^ry for much of this area. 

It is on the overflowed part of the valley that especial care should be taken 
in beginning cultivation and where particular study should decide the kind of 
crops to be grown after the complicated problem of reclamation is solved. In 
clearing the land of native vegetation care should be taken not to allow the 
land to ^and without a covering of some kind unless cultivation is begun im- 
mediately. 

The fir^ problem here is the control of the overflow water. Until this 
water is effedlually in hand no farming worthy of the name can be done. To 
control the overflow it will be necessary to con^rucfl a dike or levee along the 
river, to connedt with the mesa land below, of such height and ^rength as to 
keep out the river. As has been previously ^ated, the ground water of the 
valley rises and falls with the river, and some places are now overflowed six to 
eight feet. The confining of the river would cause it to rise higer in the chan- 
nel, so that the ground water over the present overflowed part of the valley 
would have several feet of head, thus bringing it near to or above the surface. 
This would necessitate the in^allation of a drainage sy^em, with a pumping 
plant at the lower end of the valley to lift the water above the levee and back 
into the river. This leveeing and draining would be expensive, but since the 



1 



I 



8d Sngram, ^. Jl. Donovan. 

S*resident Secrelarif 

Yuma Land and Stock 
Company 

Sncorporated under the 
jOaws of jtrizona 

Capital Stock, paid up 

$so.ooo.co 

Importers of Holstein Cattle. 

Yuma, Arizona 

JACK DUNNE ED DUNNE 



Sljf Suby 



DUNNE BROTHERS, Proprietors 

Yellowstone and Richland Rye Whiskey 
International and Havana Cigars 

YUMA, ARIZONA 



otlj^ f uma iEimttng §>Ux 



Published every day 
except Sunday. 
Delivered anywhere 
at 40c a month. 



'S'rr §i|nrpy Abnut 4lt. 



Morns & lapia 


Geo 


. A. Duke 


Barber Shop 






Bath Rooms 




Jtbafrae/er 






Dlotary 
J2and» 


Ihe Best in 




jOoans 


Everything 




SfCines 


On We^ Side of Main Street 




Yuma, Arizona 


YUMA - 


' - - ARIZONA 



subsoil is usually quite porous the drains need not be close together, and the 
natural fertility of the soil, together with the advantages of abundant water 
and almo^ tropical climate, would certainly make such reclamation a paying 
investment. 

The date palm is generally conceded to be the crop which, by long culti- 
vation in a similar region in Africa, has become peculiarly adapted to the 
soils and climate of such an area as this. Date palms will thrive in soil having 
as much as three per cent of alkali. Experiments are now being carried on 
in the Salt River Valley to teit the Algerian date palms in Arizona, and the 
present season some experiments will be made with Egyptian cotton in the 
Colorado Delta. Other crops from parts of the globe with a similar climate 
should be tried until a new agriculture, consi^ling of crops which it is impossi- 
ble to grow in the colder part of the United States, shall be developed. Such 
an indu^ry should yield to the farmers a revenue far greater than that now 
derived from the almo^ exclusive growing of alfalfa and the raising of ^ock. 




our.g i^aie r 'dim 1 ree at ^ uma. 




Scene on Yuma Heights Fruit Ranch. 



f uma I|ngl)t0 Jrutt Saurl|. 



W. A. Cheney, Superintendent of the Yuma Heights fruit farm, furnishes 
the following statement of the products of the farm: 

Grape fruit, 300 boxes per acre. 
Grapes (twenty pound crates), 4000 crates per acre. 
Lemons, 400 boxes per acre. 
Oranges, 300 boxes per acre. 
Apricots, 4000 boxes per acre. 
Figs, 4000 boxes per acre. 

Cantaloupes (sixty to crate), I 00 crates per acre. 
Cucumbers, 500 dozen per acre. 
Tomatoes, 6000 per acre. 
Watermelons, 1 000 per acre. 
Squash, 8000 per acre. 

All under irrigation, supply of water pumped from power house in town, 
over two miles. 



P^ara m\h (^mptB. 



Judge Thacker, a prosperous farmer of Yuma Valley, says: "I have two 
acres in Bartlett pears. The trees are. about eight years old. In 1903, 1 sold 
from said orchard $550 worth of fruit; in 1904, $801 worth; in 1905, 
$645 worth, besides having all I wanted for dome^ic use and preserving. 

"I also have one-half acre in grapes, and sell from $300 to $325 worth 
every year. 

"Each year I have raised barley that threshed twenty-seven and one-half 
sacks per acre, and alfalfa that cut ten tons per acre per annum." 



3h? iatr f aim. 



The date palm is known to have been one of the earlier trees cultivated 
by man. Its hi^ory is coextensive with that of civilization itself. From time 
immemorial it has been one of the greater boons nature has be^owed upon 




Loading a Car oi Yuma Valley Honey tor Shipment. 



the nomadic tribes of Southern Asia and Northern Africa. The Biblical 
writer of the Book of Exodus, in the account of the wanderings of the Israel- 
ites in the wilderness, says: "And they came to Elim, where were twelve 
wells of water and three score and ten palm trees, and they encamped there 
by the waters." 

The date palm has been grown for many years m various portions of the 
United States and Mexico. We are doubtless indebted to the early Mission 
Fathers for its introdudlion to American soil. They planted the date palm at 
the Catholic Missions from Florida to Mexico through Southern New Mexico, 
Arizona and California, wherever climatic conditions were found favorable, 
and the plantings of those early days remain until the present time, in Sonora, 
and are ^ill producing a good quality of fruit. 




Row of New Cottages on Third Avenue. 



The Mexicans of Sonora are wont to say: "El datil es el arbol de pouve- 
nir"~"The date is the tree of the future." And truly it is the tree of the future 
for Southern Arizona. The climate conditions here are so similar to those of 
the regions where the date is known to flourish, there is a fair prosped; that 
date culture will become an important indu^ry of the arid regions of the 
Southwe^. 

The date palm has been grown at Yuma for more than forty years, and 



...John Rimpau... 



S3^-< 



Gents' 

Furnishings, 

Clothing, 

Hats, 

Shoes, 

Suits made 

to order. 

THE BEST ALWAYS 

Main Street 



International 
Restaurant. 

CHAN & CHAS. SING 

PROPRIETORS 

Be^ 

Meals 

m 

Town 



Phone 64 



Phone 64 



YOU DON'T NEED 
TO KNOW 



how we make mother's 
bread as it is made to 
sell and is a self adver- 
tiser. Try it once and 
you'll become a customer 

Yuma Bakery 

E. A. Ingram, Prop. 



J. H. WILLIS 



P. 0. Box 955 






(Enmpantj 



Modesti Bldg., Main and First 






Cleaning 
and Pressing 
a Specialty 






Sanguinetti Bldg., Main and Second 



New 

Southern Pacific 

Hotel 

8d and SBen 3iodqes. S^roprielors. 

Remodeled and Refurnished 
Throughout by the New Man- 
agement. The Dining Room Is 
Now the Fine^ One in Yuma, 
and We Invite the Public Pat- 
ronage. Dining Room Open at 
All Hours until 7 p. m. Lunch 
Room Open All Night. Free 
Sample Room in Connexion. 

Delmonico 
Re^aurant 

CHARLEY SAM 
Proprietor 



jlbstracts and Certificates of Uitle. 



Only Complete Set of 



Meals 
at 
All 
Hours 

Hotel Gandolfo Building, Yuma 



Jlbstraet SBooAs in '2/uma County. 

iFtftrltty 

WxXU 

^uarmtty 

Uhos. 2>. SKolloy, 
SKanager 

SPltone Dlo. 94 '^uma. jlrizona 

M. S. Darling 

2)ealer in 

Jewelry and 
Notions 

2)arling's Siargain Store 
Sc and ICe Counters 

Watch Inspecftor S. P. Ry. Co. 

Second Street, 5-ive 2)oors TDest of 

SPostoffiee 
*l)uma : : : jlrizona 



some of these early plantings have been bearing for nearly twenty years. 
Numerous specimens of bearing date trees may be seen in and around Yuma. 
It will grow upon nearly all kinds of soils where there is sufficient irrigation 
and the requisite amount of heat. Lean sandy soils of the desert with a small 
percentage of clay and charged with alkaline salts are the be^ for date culture. 
The amount of fruit produced in a single season by Arizona seedlings seven 
years old is recorded as upwards of 200 pounds. A large experiment garden 
has been e^ablished at Yuma under the auspices of the University of Arizona, 
in which are being grown many varieties of dates from Spain, Persia, Arabia, 
and other date centers of the Old World. This garden, planted less than a 
year ago, in a few years will be one of the showplaces of Yuma. 




Stacks of Yuma Valley Hay. 



®b^ f uma (Eii-ii^trrattitr i3at^ Orrbarft 



The United States Department of Agriculture has undertaken, in co-opera- 
tion with the Territory of Arizona, a series of investigations upon various relat- 
ed subjects, such as that of grazing, a study of Colorado River water, and the 



importation and culture of the date palm. The latest co-operative work un- 
dertaken IS that relating to the date palm, the Department agreeing to provide 
imported off-shoots of desirable varieties of date palms, the Arizona Station 
agreeing to provide for their subsequent care. 

in accordance with this arrangement, an orchard was established at Tempe 
some years ago. In extension of the work at Tempe, a new co-operative or- 
chard, on similar lines, was started one mile southwest of Yuma, in the flood 




Yuma Date Palm Tree, Loaded With Ripened Fruit. 



plain of the Colorado River, in May, 1905. An appropriation of $1300 
was granted in March, 1905, by the Twenty-third Legislative Assembly, and 
ground was broken May 1, 1905, on a most desirable tract of seven an.d 
one-fifth acres generously donated for this purpose by Mr. O. F. Townsend, 
Secretary of the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce, of Yuma. 

Three consignments from Algeria, Tunis, Egypt and Persia, numbering I 52 
trees, in fifty-eight varieties, were planted in May and June, and have made 



S'hone 2S 9. G. S3ox 2S 7 

THE YUMA 
MEAT MARKET 

P. B. Hodges & Co., 
Proprietors 

TOholesale and Sletail SDea/er.s in 

Jill JCinda of ^resh 

and Cured Sfleata 

^re,sA ^ish and Oys- 
ters in Season 

bruits, 'Vegetables, 
and S^rodiice 

Gandolfo Hotel Bidg., Yuma, Ariz. 



iHnuutatu lUiutug 
itatrift 

IS fa^ taking rank 
with the better known 
copper producing 
camps of the Territory. 
The California-Arizona 
Copper Company, 
the Hecla Mining 
Company and the 
Mohawk Copper 
Company are among 
the mo^ prominent 
of the adtive mines of 
the di^icft. These 
companies all have 
their offices m Yuma, 
and buy their supplies 
and material there. 



Concrete Construction 
Company - 



Yuma, Arizona 



3(. C. 3iaupt. President 



2). J2. S'e'Vane. Secretarti 



directors: 3i. C. Siaupt. 2). J2. 2)eVane, S- S. 2)evine. S. 5i. Sleese, 
3. S- SKartin. 9eo. Slarable. f^ffwp.s SBizze/ and 8. S- Carulhers 



Contrads for 

Sidewalk, Building and other concrete work 



10. e. Sreene. J! ^. SKoson, 

S^re&ident. Seneral Silanager. 

Cananea 
Cattle Company 



UJ^OJS^OiS^ 



Hereford Cattle 

REGISTERED 

Sir Richard 2nd, Anxiety 4th, Lord Wilton 
and Grove 3rd drains predominating 

Larger Herd in the United States. 
Every Animal of Pronounced Beef Type. 
Well Known All Over America as the Colin 
Cameron Regi^ered Hereford Herd. 



Shetland Ponies 

CHOICEST ISLAND STRAINS 






Regi^ered in Island and American Stud Books. 
Unequalled for Children. 
Prices Made on Application, 

COLIN CAMERON, Tucson, Arizona 



satisfadtory progress since that time. After planting, alfalfa was sown between 
the rows of date trees. 

It is believed that the demon^ration of early commercial varieties in this or- 
chard, which represents several millions of acres of Colorado flood plain and 
delta lands, will have noteworthy influence upon the development of this region. 

A small cottage has been built on the ground, and Mr. Ed L. Crane is in 
charge of the orchard. 



Agnntltural Nnt^B. 



ARIZONA GOVERNOR'S DATE PALM REPORT. 

In the last annual report of the Secretary of the Interior, Governor Kibbey, 
of Arizona, had the follov^ng to say of date palms and their culture in the 
Territory: 

For six years past the Arizona Station, m co-operation with the United 
States Department of Agriculture, has been engaged in the establishment of 
the most valuable old-world varieties of date palms in Arizona. The Tempe 
date orchard, with twelve acres planted, now contains about 600 living trees, 
including 1 00 varieties. The oldest of them, planted in July, 1 900, has pro- 
duced three small crops of fruit, and this year (1905) about twenty varieties 
are bearing. As these sele(fled trees come into bearing under Southwestern 
conditions it will be possible to judge of the varieties best suited to the climate 
and soil of the region as well as to our commercial and market requirements. 

The Tempe orchard has already demonstrated the practicability of import- 
ing and planting choice varieties of date palms on a large scale, and opera- 
tions there will serve as a guide in the seledtion of trees for the planting of 
commercial orchards in the future. Several kinds have already been found to 
successfully ripen their fruit in the Salt River Valley, while others have been 
observed not to mature their fruit with the heat there available. The later 
varieties may be found suitable for hotter distrids, such as Salton Basin, while 
the earliest kinds may be found available for still cooler localities than near 
Tempe. It is now certain that the date palm is destined to be a valuable as- 
set in the arid, sub-tropical valleys of the Southwest, producing a staple com- 
mercial fruit now entirely imported from foreign countries. 

During the current year another orchard has been started near Yuma, in 
the alljvial bottom lands of the Colorado River. In this very favorable loca- 
tion it is not unlikely that the commercial outcome will be even better than at 




Yuma Valley Residence. 



Tempe, the soil being unsurpassed in quality, water abundant and the season 
longer than at Salt River Valley. 

It is of interest in this connedtion to note the points of resemblance between 
the Colorado and the Nile, whose valley has been the home of the date palm 
from time immemorial. Both rivers rise in the distant mountainous countries, 
their lower courses traverse sub-tropical and rainless deserts, and they empty 
into land-locked arms of the ocean at a little less than thirty-two degrees north 
latitude. Like the Nile the Colorado is subjedt to an annual summer flood, 
which overflows great areas of its alluvial border and delta lands. While cli- 
matic conditions along the Colorado are somewhat less severe than in Lower 
Egypt, yet the two regions have a number of produdts in common. Among 
these are Alfalfa, wheat, the sorghum cane, the date palm, fig, olive, orange 
and pomegranate, cotton, melons and sugar cane. 

The success attending the culture of dates at Tempe, showing the encour- 
aging harve^ of two years ago, led up to their introducftion not only in the 
Imperial Valley proper, but also at the north end, at Mecca. That success is 
certain is felt, with all the pa^ hi^ory of success in dates at Yuma and at 
Hanlon's, at the canal intake. 

NUTS FOR THE OLD TIME DESERT. 

The Bureau of Plant Indu^ry has ju^ begun to furnish California and Ari- 
zona with millions of seeds and sprouts of the pistachio tree, an innovation 
which, to California and Arizona, is equally as important as the introduction 



in that region of the orange, the Tokay, Malavoise, and the Muscat grapes 
and the olive. 

The planting of pistachio trees in Southern California and Arizona is con- 
sidered more important even than the recent introduction of dates into this 
Territory. The pistachio nut now grows in Arabia, Persia, Egypt and Tur- 
key. It is about the size of an almond. The meat is green, and of delicate 
and appetizing flavor. The Arabs, Persians and Turks think a lamb, duck, 
chicken, turkey or goose roaited and buffed with pi^achios a rare delicacy, 
and those Europeans who have eaten of such dishes pronounce them une- 
qualed. 

It is, however, used more extensively as an ingredient of candies, sherbets, 
sweets, ice cream and pa^ry. It became known generally in this country at 
the World's Fair at Chicago, at which time it was introduced as one of the 
ingredients of Turkish nougat candy. It is the higher priced nut in the 
American market, coding twice as much as the coitlie^ papershell pecans and 
three times as much as the be^ almonds. 

The advantages of the pi^achio nut is that it is a desert growth. It sends 
forth a long tap root, which Srikes deep below the soil to the moisture under- 
lying desert sands. The introduction of dates in Arizona put miles of waste 
land into profitable use, but the date will r.ot thrive too far from streams or 
wells. The pistachio tree will grow in the hot, arid desert, and will yield 
from $800 to $ 1 000 an acre. 

In getting these nuts for planting, the Bureau of Plant Industry found a su- 
perior variety, with kernels twice as large as those of ordinary almonds. The 
Bureau has 500 young pistachio trees in Arizona, and is planting several mil- 
lion more.— Washington Post. 

A BIG POTATO. 

In the season of I 903 George Crowley, Yuma Valley, grew a sweet po- 
tato which weighed 42 3-4 pounds. It was so big that it would not go into 
the mouth of a barley sack. This potato was on exhibition for some weeks 
in Yuma. 

PROFIT IN ALFALFA. 

On his ranch about twelve miles below Yuma, W. H. DeBerry has one 
40-acre field of alfalfa from which, during the season of 1903, he cut 160 
tons of hay, which sold in Yuma for $1 1.50 per ton. He also harvested 
from the same piece 6700 pounds of alfalfa seed, which he sold for thirteen 
cents per pound. On the same forty he pastured eighty head of cattle for 
six months, the going price for such pasture being one dollar per steer per 
month. The total income from this forty acres for the twelve months was 
$3181, or $79.53 per acre. 



SWEET POTATOES. 

Bert L. Nunnaley has a ranch near the river, eleven miles below Yuma. 
During the year 1902 Mr. Nunnaley had about 1-3 of an acre of sweet po- 
tatoes. This crop had but one irrigation, yet he harve^ed ninety-five sacks, 
weighing 1 05 pounds each, which he sold in Yuma for 1 1 -2 cents per 
pound. Income, 1-3 acre, $149.63. 

IDEAL GRAPE CONDITIONS. 

Conditions about Yuma are ideal for raisin growing. TTie vine produces 
well and the grower is absolutely certain that weather conditions will be favor- 
able for drying. In California a considerable per cent of the late crop is lo^ 
because of fall rains. Yuma almo^ never has any rain during the grape season. 

LEMONS AND LIMES. 

Grape fruit, figs, the lemon and the date palm are now producing at Yuma, 
and the produdl is truly wonderful. Yuma lemons have a higher percentage 
of juice and acidity than those of any other region in the world. During all 
the time that Americans have lived in this region, say fifty years, no frost has 
occurred to severely injure the lemon or orange trees. Lemons and limes re- 
quire a more moderate climate and a higher winter temperature than any othe 




Tule Laguna, in Yuma Valley. 



W. C. Horan's Stage Line 

Stages Leave for: 

Leonard's Camp at 8:30 a. m. 

C. D. Co/s at 8:30 a. m. 

Picacho at 7:00 a. m. 

Laguna Dam at 8:00 a. m. 

Telephones: Office 78, Barn 90 
Office, corner Main and Jones Sts. 

Speese Addition 

Mo^ Desirable Residence 
Location m Yuma. Lots are 
cheap and can be purchased 
on easy terms. 



Apply to JNO. M. SPEESE, Yuma, Ariz. 



THE EYES OF THE WORLD 



Are looking to the Great SouthweS, and Yuma County, Arizona, 

Is the Garden Spot of that favored Sedlion. Here are 
No fogs, no freezes, no bad ^orms, no droughts, 
No crop failures from any cause. 

Here the skies are clear, the sunshine bright, the climate 

Like spring-time all the time, except a few 

Warm days in summer time, when the heat is more tolerable then 

Than in more humid sections North and Ea^. 

Here the soil is as rich and produdlive 
As that of the famous delta of the Nile. 
Two cereal crops per year are easy, 
And quite the usual thing. 

Likewise eight to ten cuttings per year of Alfalfa, 
Besides pumpkins and watermelons galore. 
Not to speak of citrus and orchard fruits and berries. 
Dates, pomegranates, and pomelos. 

Yuma County fruit and truck growers ship 

From two to six weeks ahead of California growers. 

And get top prices in the markets; Yuma County oranges bring 

$3.00 more per box in New York City than the California produdl. 

Yuma County took fir^ prizes on Wheat, Alfalfa, Lemons, and Grape-fruit, 

At the World's Fair at St. Louis; and la^ but not leaft, 

Yuma County has under conSrucftion by the U. S. Reclamation Service 

A Great Irrigation Sy^em to co^ $3,000,000.00. 

If you don't believe all this, come and see for yourself. 
Or take our word for it, and vsaite for prices of lands. 

Address, THE YUMA EXCHANGE AND REALTY CO., 

Room 1 8, New Gandolfo Building, Yuma, Arizona. 



species of the citrus family, and they are more sensitive to climatic changes 
than any other fruits. Yet long years of experience in the door yards and or- 
chards of Yuma prove that here are found ail the requisites for the successful 
cultivation of both. 

CONTROLS THE RAINFALL. 

It is not too extravagant to say that in this Valley man harvests his rainfall, 
as he does his crops, and uses it when he needs it. In this Valley each man, 
as it were, lets the rain come on his farm when he wants it, and turns it off 
when he has had enough. 

YUMA FRUITS. 

The li^ of fruits that can be successfully grown in the vicinity of Yuma is a 
very long one. As especially desirable for profit to the producer, the follow- 
ing may be mentioned: Apricots, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, nedarines, 
grapes, pomegranates, almonds, olives, oranges, lemons, limes and grape fruit. 

ALFALFA. 

Alfalfa is the moA certain crop grown in the world; it never fails and is al- 
ways marketable. Once seeded, it grows year after year, for how long is not 
known. The olde^ field near Yuma is twelve years old, and as good as ever. 

COTTON AS AN EXPERIMENT. 

The Experiment Station proposes to raise cotton in Arizona and the exper- 
iments along this line will be made under the auspices of the University. A. 
Y. Greer will have charge. The place seleded for cotton growing is near 
Yuma. The Government owns some land in the we^ern pau-t of Yuma, 
which is being used by the Experiment Station of this city. It is proposed to 
plant this tradl in Egyptian cotton, which is a very high grade, long-fibre cot- 
ton. This produd brings top-notch prices and can be grown on a very small 
area. It is native to the Nile country and has never been successfully grown 
elsewhere, consequently the experiments will be watched with unusual intere^. 

There is every prospecft, however, that the cotton will thrive near Yuma, as 
shown by experiments which have been made there during the pa^ three 
years by Thomas H. Kearney, who has been in the employ of the Govern- 
ment during that time. Mr. Kearney planted three acres to Egyptian cotton 
and a fine yield resulted. Then, to see if the cotton was like that grown in 
the Nile country, he took some to Cairo, Egypt, and there obtained a top- 
notch price from a cotton buyer, who ^ated that he supposed the cotton to 
have been grown in the Nile country, as it was of an unusually high grade. 
The experiments la^ year were a failure, owing to the overflow of the river, 
which washed everything away. 

If cotton growing at Yuma proves a success, it will mean much for that re- 



gion, as cotton can be marketed readily for cash. The Experiment Station 
will make a thorough demon^ation.— Tucson Citizen. 

MISSOURI CORN. 

In February, 1 905, Mr. J. W. Alexander, who farms on W. H. Lyon's 
ranch, planted some yellow seed corn which he had brought from Missouri. 
He gathered corn from this planting the latter part of July, and immediately 
planted seed of this new corn. The la^ of November he gathered corn 
raised from the seed grown from the fir^ planting. A fine heavy yield was 
gathered from both plantings. 



ii^.!>^.< 




'~T»llf8F 







Baled Hay in Yuma Valley. 



^tnrk Satatug. 



The que^ion of the produdiveness of irrigated lands has long ago been set- 
tled in the affirmative. No portion of the country where the farmer depends 
on rainfall can compare with that in which he is absolute ma^er of the mois- 
ture. 



■"Qlnrnplui Anguln 
$c (go 

"The Quality Store" 

T|iirt, ^rbaffnrr Sc Harx (Elnthtug 
^trtfiim auft ICtnu l^atB 
l^auau m\h llalk-(§urr i^Iuira 
2. auft M. (Enllara 

Cheap for Cash Only! 

WHITE'S ADDITION 

....TO YUMA.... 

Now Placed on the Market for the First Time 

This Addition is located upon a 
high, level prominence overlooking 
the old Town of Yuma on the 
north, the verdant Valley of the 
Colorado on the we^, and the green 
banks of the Gila River on the ea^, 
at an elevation of about 89 ft. above 
the valleys and the old townsite. 

For further information apply to T. A. White, Box 363, Yuma, Arizona 



Old Government Hermitage 

Whisky Whisky.. 

...Paul Moretti... 

Wines, Liquors and Cigars 



^ 



Agent for Anheuser-Busch Beer 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ • 

Stoffela Building, Main Street, Yuma, Arizona 

Pioneer Livery and 
Transfer Company 

Main Street - - - Yuma, Arizona 



^ Livery, Trucking and Hauling of All Kinds 
^ We make a Specialty of Outfitting for Long Trips 

Phones 47 and 48 Phones 47 and 48 




Field of ^ oung Corn in Yuma Valley. 



In all irrigated countries the soil produdts are rich in nutritive values. This 
seems to be part and parcel of plant and grain growth. 

Some sections are more adapted to stock fattening than others, perhaps, be- 
cause of an added richness in the food, but the greater contributing cause is 
the climatic conditions. All that portion of Arizona adjacent to Yuma, and 
subject to irrigation by the waters of the Colorado River, as diverted by the 
United States Government Dam at Laguna, is specially adapted for ^ock fat- 
tening, for both the foregoing reasons. 

The silt of the Colorado River carries a fertilizing value each year of $3.57 
per acre, as determined by repeated Government analyses, insuring for all time 
the same nutritious food grown today. 

The mo^ convincing proof that the climate could not be improved upon is 
in the fadt that for year after year cattle have been fattened here for the Los 
Angeles and San Francisco markets, and the critical buyers bear evidence 
that, not only is the beef as good, but that it is made in less time than in any 
other portion of Arizona. 1 his would be the theoretical conclusion, and it is 
corroborated by adtual trial in the feed lots and pa^ure fields. 

Another point of advantage to the Yuma irrigated land as a fattening cen- 
ter is its proximity to the be^ breeding ground of the world—that is, the bor- 
derland of Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora, from which cattle can 
always be had at Kansas City prices less the freight. 



These ranges of Arizona are now producing cattle not surpassed anywhere. 
The largest pedigreed registered Hereford herd in America is located in this 
borderland. Established in 1 882 by Colin Cameron, it has been continuously 
owned by him until sold, in 1 903, to Colonel W. C. Greene. The winners 
at the Chicago and Kansas City fat stock shows, as well as at Denver, have 
been range raised cattle. The phenomenal gains made by the Denver win- 
ners on beet pulp and alfalfa will be greatly surpassed when the Government 
irrigating works, new well under way, are completed. 

The Cananea Cattle Company offers not only pure bred cattle, but the 
best class of steers for maturing on the rich feed of the Yuma Valley farms. 



Sranspnrtattnn. 



It is said that hiAory repeats itself. In the days long gone by, Yuma was 
the principal diolributing point for all Arizona. That was before the advent 
of "the Black Horse Cavalry''~the railroad. Goods were shipped by ocean 
Reamer via the Gulf of California to the mouth of the Colorado River; thence 
by steamboat up the Colorado to Yuma and other points north as far as Nee- 
dles. The greater portion was landed at Yuma, and from here it was freight- 
ed in immense freight wagons by from ten to twenty mule teams across the 
stretches of cacftus and sand to Tucson and other Arizona points. 

Freighting and steamboating were profitable industries m the good old days. 

A new era dawned when the first Southern Pacific train pulled into Yuma, 
on December I 5th, 1878. 

At present, Yuma is dependent for transportation chiefly upon the Southern 
Pacific Railroad. From El Paso, this route lies by way of Tucson, down the 
Gila Valley to Yuma, where it crosses the Colorado River, and proceeds 
westward to Los Angeles and the Pacific Coa^. 

Another trans-continental line will some day be built through Yuma, for the 
reason that this is the mo§t direcft route from the Ea^ to the WeS, and be- 
cause the beit available crossing on the Colorado River is at Yuma. The 
Rock Island and the Gould intere^s have long been seeking a terminal point 
on the Pacific, and will some day get it— doubtless at San Diego. Knowing 
this, a road conne<fling Yuma and San Diego has been projedted and sur- 
veyed, and at no di^ant day will be built—that or some other. It will be im- 
possible to keep San Diego bottled up always, and Yuma and San Diego 
will yet clasp hands and rejoice together. 

A branch of the Santa Fe quite recently has been built through the north- 



ern portion of Yuma County, from Wiclcenburg in a southwe^erly diredlion to 
a crossing on the Colorado River some miles above Yuma. Several thriving 
new towns have sprung up on this road. Among these are Parker, where 
the road crosses the river, and Wendendale. This will further the more rapid 
development of the mining* mtere^s of Yuma County. 

The building of the dam, and the diversion of the water for irrigation, will 
close the Colorado River to navigation. It is anticipated that a line of rail- 
road from Parker to Yuma will be found not only advisable but necessary, 
and what ought to be will be. Then will hi^ory repeat itself, and Yuma will 




One of the Big Colofado River Steamers. 



again be a great di^ributing point, and will be— not in prospecfl but in fad—the 
Gate City of the Great Southwe^. 

A NEW RAILROAD. 

Late news is to the effed that definite plans have been formed that will 
give San Diego the eastern railway outlet she has so long coveted. The El 
Paso and Southwestern, which is now completed between El Paso and Ben- 
son, is controlled by the Copper Qyeen management. This concern has a line 
from Phoenix to Florence, and it is stated that the connecting link will be com- 
pleted in the near future. It is then proposed, it is alleged, to build on through 
to the coast, with San Diego as a terminal; and it is further stated that the 



management is confident of completing the line within two years. There is no 
question as to the ability of the company to furnish funds for the enterprise, 
the Phelps-Dodge Company, owners of the El Paso and Southwestern, hav- 
ing the immense revenues of the Copper Queen mines and smelters of Bisbee 
and Douglas at their command. The parent road, the El Paso and South- 
western, is unique in standing among railroads in the fact that it bears not a 
dollar of indebtedness in bonds or otherwise. With the driving of the last 
spike the last dollar owing by it was paid. 

As has been previously shown, two routes have been under consideration 
by this road to the coa^; one from Benson, its present terminal, to Phoenix, 
Yuma and San Diego by way of Imperial, and an alternative route from Fair- 
banks, nine miles we^ of Tomb^one, direcflly we^ to Yuma and Imperial, 
thence on to San Diego. The la^ named route has been reconnoitered for 
the second time within the pa^ year, and in view of the ^rong hold over the 
Phoenix territory held by the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific sy^ems, it would 
seem the more likely route of the two to be adopted by the El Paso and 
Southwe^ern in its march to the coa^ for the acquisition of the coming orien- 
tal traffic—Arizona Sentinel. 






"ALEXANDRIA OF THE AMERICAN NILE." 

Because of the similarity of soil, produdions, climate and topography, "Yu- 
ma Valley" has frequently been likened to the delta of the Nile, and the Col- 
orado River to the great river of Egypt. A writer in the Los Angeles Times, 
referring to these fads, predidted that at the Needles would be built another 
Cairo, and that Yuma would be the Alexandria of the American Nile. Be 
that as it may, no other town of Arizona, or, indeed, of the Great Southwe^, 
is so admirably located for the making of a city as Yuma. 

Qyeen of the desert, she sits enthroned upon an oasis overlooking the mighty 
and my Serious Colorado. She has no rival town nearer than Tucson, 250 
miles on the eaS, and Los Angele, 248 miles on the we^; and because of the 
advantages of her location, never will have. 

As the population of the County increases, and as its resources, agricultural, 
mineral, and otherwise, reach greater development, other towns will spring up. 



ALEXANDER & CO., 

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN 

GENERAL MERCHANDISE, 

Corner Third Street and Madison Avenue 



We also carry the best brands of Liquors, Cigars, etc ^ Special 
attention given to all outside orders. ^ Give us a call and we will 
make you welcome, and also show you the fine^ ftock of goods in 
the ccajntry, at prices to suit you. ^ Don't forget the number— 

PHONE 66 PHONE 66 

SOLE AGENTS FOR =^= 



Alhambra Water, John Deere Farming Implements, Lightning 

Hay Presses and Engines, besides Specialties 

on Numerous Other Articles. 



MAIN STREET, BRANCH STORE 

Between 2d and 3d. Phone 31 Fort Yuma, Cal. Phone 24 

Jose M. Molina 



DEALER IN 



GENERAL MERCHANDISE 

DRY GOODS, CLOTHING, GROCERIES, 
PROVISIONS, SEEDS. BARLEY, HAY AND 
GRAIN. GLASSWARE. CROCKERY, HARD- 
WARE AND MINERAL SUPPLIES 

^ n ^ 

■^ The Cheapen Business House in the Place. ^ Goods 
Delivered to Railroad Depots, Steamer Landings and to any 
other place in the city free of charge. 



FRANK KELSO JOHN L. BALSZ 

The Arizona Club 

Kelso & Balsz, Proprietors 



Di^ributors of the Greater 
American Whiskey-"Yel- 
lowstone"— the Only Barrel 
Goods We Handle. All 
the leading brands in Case 
Goods. Imported and 
Dome^ic Cigars. Pab^ 
Blue-Ribbon Bottle Beer. 
Wieland's Beer on Draught. 



NEAR S. P. DEPOT ■ - YUMA, ARIZONA 



on all sides of Yuma, and they will grow and become prosperous centers of 
trade, but none of them will be rivals— they will all be under tribute to Yuma. 
Yuma is now, and has been for years, the base of supplies for a large 
scope of country, and already does an extensive wholesale as well as retail 
trade. The volume of business done here in a year is well up toward the 
million mark, and the demands of trade are constantly growing. 

NEARNESS TO COAST RESORTS. 

It does not require the ken of a seer to foresee, along with the completion 
of the Panama Canal, and the development of Northern Sonora, the building 
of a railroad line from Yuma to the Gulf of California. Some far-sighted 
Huntington will then build a net-work of tradlion lines to the gulf, and give 
Yuma a coast resort within easy reach. Everybody in the West knows of the 
immense importance to Los Angeles of the near-by beach resorts. 

YUMA'S FUTURE GREATNESS. 

The future of Yuma is secure. The splendid courage of the people who 
have held on through all those trying years when Government irrigation was 
only a dream, their abiding faith in the possibilities of the soil, and their unfal- 
tering confidence in the permanency and importance of Yuma as the center of 
the commercial activity of this se<5tion, are the stable foundations of her future 
greatness. There are men in Yuma who have made all they have, and have 
inve^ed all they have made, in Yuma. Yuma's intere^s are their intere^s, 
and they will ^and or fall with her. iMany of these "old timers" have not a 
dollar inve^ed outside of Yuma County. Many others, in later years, have 
come here with money, and have become as prominently and permanently 
identified with the material intere^s and advancement of Yuma County, as 
those to the manor born. These have shown their faith in the future of Yuma 
by making large and permanent inve^ments. 

A YEAR'S GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT. 

Yuma has had no boom, as yet; though there has been a steady influx of 
people into Yuma and vicinity, who, with few exceptions, have acquired per- 
manent holdings, and are constantly adding to their investments. The growth 
of the town in the past year has been constant and of a substantial chara<5ter. 
Real estate has more than doubled in valuation. The mesa south of the bus- 
iness sedion, which was bare and broken a year ago, is now dotted with 
pretty cottage homes environed in flowers and clinging vines. A year or two 
ago there was one principal residence street, with only a few good houses on 
that. It was wide and bordered with orange and pepper trees, and called 
Orange Avenue, but had no sidewalks until the past six months. Orange 
Avenue now has sidewalks its entire length, to the corporate limits of the 



town. Other streets, notably Second Avenue and Third Street, have been 
cut through, graded and leveled. Main Street is now^ supplied with concrete 
sidewalks from one end to the other. The spirit of improvement is abroad, 
and there will be nothing to hinder its onward march. 

YUMA'S PUBLIC SCHOOL. 

Bonds in the sum of $35,000 have been authorized by vote of the prop- 
erty holders, to aid m building a fine new public school to cost $50,000. 
Yuma has an excellent corps of teachers under the supervision of one of the 
most capable and energetic school superintendents in the Territory. With the 
handsome quarters in contemplation, and the splendid equipment to be pro- 
vided, Yuma will have a school system second to none in the Territory. 

People looking to Yuma for a future home may come assured of the best 
common and high school advantages for their children. 

There is also a free reading room in Yuma, kept up by contributions, under 
the auspices of the Total Abstinence League. This will in time give place 
doiibtless to a public library. 

THE YUMA WOMAN'S CLUB. 

One of the sub^antial and useful in^tutions of Yuma is "The Yuma 
Woman's Club," composed of thirty-five of the leading ladies of town. This 




View of a Secflion of Yuma Along llie Colorado River. 




Looking Down Main Street, Yuma. 



is a literary, social and civic club, which, besides contributing much to the 
social life of the town, has grown to be a power in all that concerns its edu- 
cational, social and moral interests. 

The adivity of the Civic Department of this club has resulted in a cam- 
paign for a "cleaner Yuma." The principal ^eets are now supplied with 
trash cans, and a city ordinance compels their use, and likewise prohibits ex- 
ped orating on the sidewalks. As ladies vote in school eledions in the Terri- 
tory, they generally hold the balance of power— and use it— to the great 
advantage of the schools, and Yuma is not an exception to this rule. 

The Yuma Woman's Club is urging the improvement of a city park, tree 
planting, flower culture, and many other measures that will add to the beauty 
of the town, and to its desirability as a place to make a home. 

FRATERNAL ORDERS IN YUMA. 

The fraternal orders are nearly all represented by flourishing lodges. 
Among these are the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Workmen, 
Fore^ers, Red Men, Eagles, Elks, Woodmen, Good Templars and the Span- 
ish-American Alliance. These orders do a va^ amount of good work in their 
lines, and the fadt that these orders each include a large membership is fairly 
indicative of the character of the citizenship to be found here. 

The Workman Lodge owns a handsome building with hall on second floor, 
the lower floor being fitted up as flats for rent. The Knights of Pythias are 



planning the erecftion of a Caitle Hall on a site owned by them. The Elks 
own a fine lot in the business center of town, and will some day build a hand- 
some lodge home. Members of these orders who contemplate coming to 
Yuma may be assured in advance of finding congenial fraternal affiliations. 

YUMA'S BUSINESS INDUSTRIES. 



The present business life of Yuma is 

Bakeries 3 

Barber Shops 5 

Billiard Hall 1 

Boot and Shoe Shops 3 

Broom Fadory 1 

Cigar Fadtory 1 

Clergymen 3 

Concrete Con^udlion Company _ 1 
Crockery and Glassware Dealers 4 

Dentins 2 

Drug Stores 2 

Eledlric Light Plant 1 

Furnishing Goods Stores 4 

Grocery Stores 10 

Hardware Stores 4 

Hotels __- 3 

Laundry (Steam) 1 

Livery Stables 2 

Lumber Yards 2 

Meat Markets 4 

Millinery Stores 3 

News and Stationery Stores 2 

Newspapers (Weekly) 3 

Oil, Paint and Glass Dealers 3 

Photographic Studios 2 

Plumbers and Tinsmiths 3 

RacketStore 1 

Re^aurants 5 

Sanitarium 1 

Soda and Bottling Works 2 

Telephone Sy^em I 

Truck and Transfer Lines 3 

Watchmakers and Jewelers 3 

Wells-Fargo Express 1 

Wholesale and Retail General Stores. 



represented by: 

Banks 2 

Baths 4 

Blacksmith Shops 3 

Brick Yard 1 

Candy Fadlories 2 

Civil Engineers 3 

Cold Storage Plants 4 

Contradors and Builders 6 

Dairies 5 

Dressmakers 3 

Dry Goods Stores 6 

Fruit and Cigar Stands 5 

Furniture Stores 2 

Halls 3 

Hospital 1 

Ice Plant I 

Lawyers 9 

Lodging Houses 4 

Massage and Manicuring Parlor. 1 

Merchandise Broker 1 

Monthly Magazine 1 

Newspapers (Daily) 2 

Newspaper and Job Offices 4 

Painters and Paper Hangers 4 

Physicians 6 

Pumping Plants 3 

Real Eftate Agents 10 

Retail Stores, Many 

Second Hand Store I 

Stage Lines 2 

Toy Dealers 5 

Undertakers 2 

Waterworks 1 

We^ern Union Telegraph 1 



f uma 3lu&tan S^s^ritctttnn. 



The Yuma Indian Reservation is juS across the Colorado River on the 
California side. No inconsiderable amount of trade comes to Yuma from these 
people. They are very good workers, earn good w^ages—the men as common 
laborers, the women as hired servants or washer women—and, as they have 
few ideas of accumulating property, or saving money, what they make is freely 
spent, flr^ for the bare necessities of life, then for whatever ^rikes their fancy. 
They revel in bright colors, and their ityle of coatume varies only m the kalei- 
doscopic color combinations used in making them. 

Among the familiar and pidluresque sights on the Greets of Yuma are the 
Indians who come over from the Reservation to sell their wares— beadwork, 
toys and curios of many kinds. The groups of squaws with their wares spread 
out in the yard at the passenger depot is a source of intere^ and amusement 
to the touri^s going through on the train. The impression of Yuma produced 
is not always favorable, as it seems incongruous to associate such scenes with 
an up-to-date, modern town. 

The Indians are gradually learning the ways of the white man— not always 
an improvement on the ways of the Indian. Through the good work of the 
Indian schools, the generation now growing up are learning the arts of peace 
and indu^y. The mo^ of them are ChriSianized, and there is comparatively 
little immorality among them. 

The Yuma Indian Reservation comprises a fine body of tillable land that 
will come under the Yuma Proje(5t. It is expecfted that before many months 
a home^ead will be allotted to each Indian, and the residue of the land 
thrown open for settlement. All this territory, v/hen opened and settled, will 
be tributary to Yuma. 



SII|^ iffnrt f uma Slufttau ^dtnnL 



An inSitution that contributes no small amount to Yuma is the Fort Yuma 
Indian School. This is a Government in^itution, and aside from the good it 
is doing in civilizing the Indians of the surrounding country, it should, and does, 
receive the hearty support of the community as a' business proposition. The 
cash payments by the Superintendent amount to about $2000 per month, be- 
sides many extra payments m the way of new buildings, etc. Ju^ now ad- 
vertisements are out for about $10,000 worth of building material. A very 



large part of this money finds its way into the business channels of Yuma. 
The school brings a number of officials and others here every year, and in 
this way helps to advertise the country. A number of the employes have 
made permanent investments in the town and country. The school is one of 
the points of intere^ to touriSs and other visitors. 

One particular service (of many) that this school has done for the commu- 
nity, might be mentioned the absolute proof by demon^ation that the wor^ 
alkali ground here can be reclaimed and made to be the mo^ produdtive; and 
with no other aid than Colorado River water. A few years ago the Super- 
intendent decided that he mu^ have at lea^ a small school farm. The only 




Fort Yuma Indian School Buildings and Grounds 



available ground near the school was the alkali flat at the foot of the hill. This 
looked like a pretty hard proposition, and there were memy to prophesy that 
nothing could ever be grown there; but the Superintendent had faith. He in- 
^alled a pump, leveled the land and began operations. The firit year little 
was raised, but by sy^ematic and scientific leaching, the alkali was soon con- 
quered, and now there is no more fertile soil m the whole valley. 

While there is not a great deal of alkali in the Colorado Valley, there are 
some spots. None are worse, few as bad, as the Indian School ground was 
before cultivation began. In^ead of the Colorado water bringing alkali to the 
ground it will completely eradicate it. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




